THURMOND . . . DON'T COUNT ME OUT

Is the 92-year-old Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) too old to chair one of the most powerful committees on Capitol Hill? Majority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and John Warner (R-Va.) reportedly met recently with Majority Leader Bob Dole to raise concerns about whether Thurmond, the Senate's oldest member, had the stamina to run the Armed Services Committee. Today, after receiving assurances from Dole that he was "an excellent senator," Thurmond spoke out: "I think it's just a little power play and there's nothing to it."